Ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Test series between India and Australia, legendary spinner Brad Hogg believes the reason for stalwart batsman Virat Kohli’s failure is because he was batting Unable to control one’s emotions.
In Tests 2024, Virat scored 245 runs in 5 Tests and 10 innings at an average of 27.22 and scored only 50 runs with a best of 70 runs.
However, Virat’s performance has been quite consistent in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship 2023-25. He scored 556 runs in 8 Tests at an average of 42.76 and hit three fifties in 14 innings with a best score of 121.
The decade of the 2020s was not kind to Test batsman Virat, who scored 1,833 runs in 33 Tests at an average of 32.73 and managed just 2 9s and 50s in 58 innings, with a best score of 186 points.
The 53-year-old claimed that the former India captain overanalyzed during the first two Tests of the three-match series against New Zealand. “They took New Zealand too lightly and they were trying to catch up with the cricket. All of a sudden, you saw a change in Virat Kohli’s mentality in the first innings of the second Test match.
He was more aggressive, the way he strolled, the way he tried to attack the bowling. He just seemed like he was overanalyzing. He seemed unable to control his emotions, which was evident in the footage after he came off the field. If you look at Rohit Sharma’s technique against Southee, you will see that he has to be a little tighter. Virat Kohli has to start with the first ball,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel.
The most anticipated Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia will begin on November 22 with the first Test taking place in Perth. The second Test is scheduled to be played at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10 in an exciting day-night format under the stadium lights. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test, which will be held from December 14 to 18.
As usual, the Boxing Day Test will be held at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne from December 26 to 30, when the series will enter the penultimate phase.
The fifth and final Test will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7 and will be the climax of the series, bringing a dramatic conclusion to an exciting contest. Last week, when India announced their squad for the upcoming five-match Test series in Australia, Shami was not included in the squad.
Opener Rohit Sharma will lead the side and right-arm seamer Jasprit Bumrah will be the deputy.
India Border-Gavaskar Trophy line-up: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK) , R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.